Hi Everyone! I have another fun guided writing exercise prompt for you today!

For this exercise, you’re going to need something to write on, something to write with, and a timer. I’ll discuss each in detail below. If you don’t have your own story dice, you can use the same prompt I’m going to use. I’ll give it to you in just a minute.

The Dice

I have a set of nine story dice. I usually use three at a time when I do a writing exercise. Just because 9 is too many. However, I could easily see writing a children’s book and each of the nine dice is a chapter. Or writing a poem and using each die in a stanza. The possibilities are truly endless! I love story dice! 🙂

Writing Materials

Sometimes I use my iPad to write with, sometimes I use my laptop, and other times I use paper and pen. It just depends what kind of mood I’m in and what I have available when the muse strikes me. Just use whatever is best for you.

Timer

You will need a timer to use for the writing exercise. I use a timer on my phone, but you can use a kitchen timer or any other timer you have. If you don’t have anything to use as a timer, you can do the Guided Writing Prompt Exercise along with me in the YouTube video and I’ll time 2 minutes of writing for you.

Instructions

So, what we’re going to do is select three dice at random and roll them. The dice will show three pictures. You can do the exercise almost any way. What I do, is I try to use the word that I think represents the picture in the story or piece I’m writing. For example, if the die shows me a flower, I could use flower, garden, rose, petal, or anything that the picture of the flower makes me think of. The pictures should give you an idea, paint a scene, or maybe introduce a character to you that you can use in your piece.

So, for our exercise, I rolled three dice and this is what I got:

The letter ‘L’
A scarab beetle
A bridge with water under it

You can use the same pictures I’m using, or you can use your own story dice and get pictures of your own if you like. Now that you have a prompt, set your timer for a period of time you want to write for. I usually do writing exercises for 15 minutes at a time. If you do the Guided Writing Prompt YouTube video, you’ll write for 2 minutes. You can also pause the video and write for as long as you want and then skip to the end of the video. Whatever your choice, set your timer and get ready to write.

(If you have a writing program like Write or Die, you can use the software to write in as well as time yourself.)

I wrote for two minutes filming the accompanying YouTube video and I’ll post my results in the comments for this post. When your timer goes off, come back here and post your work! If you don’t want the general public to read your piece,email it to me. I’d love to read it! Ready? Go!

Happy Writing!

###

Here’s what I wrote from this prompt in 2 minutes:

Margaret could hardly believe her eyes. Here on the bridge of elison, was the emerald beetle she had searched all those long years to find! If she had found this clue when she was still young, she could have been the Queen of Alloria. But it was just not meant to be. The Beetle, carved with minute care into the ancient stone of the bridge was outlined with a star and at the Northern most tip of the star was the letter L. Margaret dropped to her knees, fingering the filigree star and wondering what the L meant. She ran her fingers over the legs of the beetle one by one and a light [time ended!].

Links:Story Dice
These are the same dice I have. They come in different ‘flavors’.

Hey everyone, have you ever wondered what story dice are and what the heck to do with them? Well, I’ve released a new video on my YouTube channel that explains just that. You can also check out a previously published full-length article here on the blog about Story Dice.

Take a look at the video and let me know what you think! If you use story dice, send me your work. If I like it, I’ll publish it here on my website! I look forward to reading your work.

I love finding new writing tools. I found an app on for my iPhone that is story dice. You’ve probably heard of Story Dice. They have pictures on them and you roll the dice and try to use the pictures in your story or other writing piece. The app I have been using is from Thinkamingo and it cost me $1.99 from the App Store. I like it because I can set the app to roll up to 10 dice if I want to.

I love the idea of story dice. You can use one picture in each paragraph, use it to think up a title, characteristics, almost anything. They are very versatile. So this week I rolled 3 dice and got a Tree, a Couple, and an Umbrella.

So here’s what I wrote:

We were married beneath the reaching branches of a majestic oak tree but when you were buried I stood alone beneath an umbrella. I’m ashamed to admit that part of me was glad you were gone. Now I had no one to hold me back from my mission, no one to keep safe and no one to care if I was not.

I had loved in your life like I had loved no other and now in death your memory made me soft and so I cast it aside and said goodbye. I didn’t need you where I was going and I certainly didn’t want you there. I closed my umbrella and left it with you.

Walking to the waiting car the rain poured all around me, dropping to the already wet ground. My feet sloshed through the soggy grass, mud coming up and over the side of my loafers. Instead of overflowing, I took it in.

The car door opened as I approached and I bent to get in. In the dry interior I felt like a fish out of water. A handkerchief was handed to me and I took it in silence. I held it feeling the smooth material between my fingers.